Following Darkness
by Lord Curly
Summary: Discontinued and rewritten as Following Darkness MK II
1. Home

**Following Darkness **by Lord Curly

**Note: **This is the sequel to Soldier of Harmony

Chapter 1: Home

**Heaven  
****Completed missions: 12,855,784  
A****pproximate time past: one thousand three hundred years**

I sighed as I added two more dog tags to our wall of fallen heroes. I said a small prayer for Tex and Matoro, I honestly didn't think Matoro would be killed since he was a biomechanical robot but this time there just wasn't enough to put back together. I sighed again, we know that they aren't really gone but we wouldn't see them again until we moved on ourselves. I couldn't suppress a shudder as I looked at the wall. Three hundred sixty-four tags now hung on it, a painful reminder of how many we had lost and how few of us were left. We had all found it was comforting to look at the digital tally of kills after looking at the wall hence why we moved it from the main room to this one. Curently the tally was a little over fifty-three billion I walked down the hall to the main room. I paused at the door and remembered the first time I walked through it. Because of the backgrounds of some of the team members I had decided to address them in my human form. I don't remember the speech I gave but I knew none of them had a problem with me leading them. Over time I slowly revealed my alicorn form to the others and eventually I no longer had to be what I once was around them. Going inside I saw my team relaxing… the six of us are all that's left. Coryn was settled on his perch giving him a bird's eye view of the room. Coryn was probably the one that changed the most out of the squad. Because of his upbringing he was no stranger to death but he had very little combat experience during his time as king of Ga'Hoole. Our resident dragons, Spyro and Cynder, were laying in front of the fireplace. Having saved their own world the only things they got from this journey was friendship and more experience. Johnson and Anderson were playing cards, not sure what game. It hadn't taken too long for the two of them to bond with each other once I gathered the squad. Anderson had no problem with the others or even me since I showed them on day one that I was an alicorn. Johnson was a different story, because of his history with the covenant he was slow to trust anything that wasn't human but after a few missions he warmed up to us. Seeing that the others were occupied I went over to the bar and poured myself a rye and ginger. I drank about half of it before god walked in. He had decided to keep looking like Morgan Freeman whenever he wanted to talk to us, usually when he gave us missions. "I have a mission for you and if everything goes according to plan it will be your last one." This caused the others to whisper to each other. After so long we had given up hope of ever defeating Shade and resigned to keep the universes on their destined paths. "I have tracked Shade to a universe and effectively trapped him there. I have put, for lack of a better term, a shield around this universe which will keep him there and minimize his influence." That was good news to me. We had been caught off guard before and during our engagements with him he would summon legions of soldiers giving him time to get away. That was how we lost the first three members of our group. "Eventually he will break through the shield, it is up to you to stop him before that. Normally I would send you in with equipment and weapons from the universe, not this time. He has escaped too many time. This time I will send you in with everything I think will be useful." He passed each of us a data pad with information on the equipment we would be using.

The data was split into two folders, Standard and Specific. The standard file contained the information on the gear we would all have. Our armor has Titanium-A plates, environmentally reactive camouflage covering (Fighting in a city = urban camouflage, forest fighting = forest camouflage, etc.), and limited active camouflage. Our helmets have night vision and thermal imaging modes, a target acquisition mode (Halo: ODST visor), and a motion tracker. Moving on to the other file I found more on our armor, I would be the only one with a full body suit. Spyro, Cynder, Johnson, and Anderson would only have helmets, chest and back plates, and bracers/ grieves. The dragons would also get tail armor. Coryn was a special case, normally we would be given the appearance of the local population but this time Coryn will remain an owl. Because of his form he will only be getting a helmet and battle claws, how his active camouflage still works I have no idea. Being our scout Coryn would also have a variable zoom function, x-ray vision mode, and an enhanced radio made for long distances. Our radios will have a shorter range than his but we will still be able to hear him, we just can't talk back. Spyro's will have a tail blade plus his armor will somehow enhance his breath attacks making them stronger and last longer. He will also be carrying our spare parts, since he had been intrigued by 'engineering' and all the tech from the universes, he was our unofficial engineer. Cynder's armor will have a speed booster designed for short distances, an anti-noise emmiter to hide her footsteps, and an enhanced active camo device which will last longer than ours. Johnson will have extra plating, a darkened visor and a blowtorch along with a strength enhancement which is necessary for him to move in the extra plating. Normally I would recommend against extra plating but if he's going to be using a blowtorch I guess it's necessary. Anderson would be our designated medic and would be carrying our medical supplies which would be distributed among the ten pouches dotting his armor. He would also have a biometric scanner and a deployable, remote controlled, short range recon/ combat drone. I would be getting the most 'upgrades'. Wing blades, a magic amplifier, and a voice distorter. The first two hinted that the universe would contain magic and our bodies will be changed to allow us to fly, it led me to believe we were going back to the Dragon Realms. I wouldn't be the first time we had to go back to a universe. Although, needing a voice distorter is suspicious. The most confusing thing was the last on the list, something called Spark. Looking around I saw that the others had finished reading their data pads. "So, what's Spark?" He shook his head, "Not what, who." Passing me a data chip he explained, "That is Blinding Spark, an artificial intelligence. She will be joining you on your mission, providing assistance where needed." I nodded and slid the chip into my helmet which appeared next to me. "Now as per our usual operation procedures you all will be given time to adapt to your new forms and learn about the universe you're going to." He passed out briefing packets to everyone else but only three pages to me. "Uh, sir…?"

"You don't need the full packet since you already have extensive knowledge of this universe. Now for your new forms." He glowed slightly and I closed my eyes, I had kept them open once and I took me nearly seven hours to get me vision back to normal. Opening them I saw that not only had Coryn been unaffected, not surprising, but Spyro, Cynder, and I were unaffected too. Johnson and Anderson were the only ones affected. Johnson was now an olive green unicorn with a grey mane and the UNSC symbol as his cutie mark. Anderson was a pegasus with a navy blue coat and a yellow-gold mane, his cutie mark was the SSV Normandy with the Alliance symbol behind it. "Get used to your forms and read the briefing packets. You have three hours before you journey to Equestria." This was it… I'm going home.

* * *

**Canterlot Castle  
****Local time: 1420  
****Five years, seven months, nine days since Steel's death**

Another dream, another morning filled with regret and longing. Looking at the empty half of my bed only served as another reminder. It's strange, at first I had these dreams every time I slept but as time passed they became less frequent but just as painful. Even after four years I haven't gotten over losing him. It always pains me when my daughter asks about him. Since she was born nearly nine months after his death she never met him. I walked over to my dresser and got ready for the day but I couldn't keep my eyes away from the picture of him I kept on the wall next to it. "I miss you Steel… we all do. I wish you were here, here to see our daughter grow up. To be with me." After I finished getting ready I teleported to Ponyville to pick up my… our daughter from school. I sent her to Ponyville's school because of the attitude most Canterlot ponies have, while my sister can tolerate it I think their attitude is insufferable. The bell rang signaling the end of the school day and the start of the weekend. All the fillies and colts ran out of the building to enjoy the weekend, all of them except Silver. She was staring at the ground and Mrs. Cheerilee was walking next to her. Looking at my daughter I was reminded of him again. She had his deep blue eyes, her mane is cobalt with a silver streak in it, and her coat was grey, slightly lighter than Steel's coat was. "Hello princess, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Silver got into a fight today."

"Silver Lining, you know better!" I took some calming breaths, she could be punished later. "What happened silver?" She didn't look at me, "Diamond Tiara was bullying me again. Usually I just ignore her but she said some things about dad." I narrowed my eyes, "And what did she say about your father?" Cheerilee was slightly worried by my dark tone. Silver shook her head, "I don't remember. I remember that I got real and then she was on the ground, I don't even remember hitting her." Silver was starting to cry so I pulled her close and gently stroked her mane. "Cheerilee, tell Diamond Tiara's parents that if their daughter makes anymore comments about Silvers father there will be consequences. You might want to talk to them about her bullying problem too." She nodded in agreement, "*sigh* I know, I had hoped that Diamond Tiara would realize that what she was doing is wrong and stop but it's starting to get out of hoof." We said goodbye and started walking to the restaurant we were meeting Vinyl and Octavia at for lunch. On the way we stopped and I got Silver some ice cream which improved her mood. When we got to the restaurant Vinyl and Octavia were already at a table. "Hi Luna, hi Silver." We said hello and Silver went back to eating her ice cream. "You do know that will ruin her apatite." Octavia whispered. I told them about what happened. Octavia was concerned while Vinyl muttered to herself something about teaching Diamond Tiara a lesson. While we were placing our orders I noticed a bracelet on Octavia's foreleg, it was gold and had an intricate design. Once the waiter left I decided to ask her about it. "Where did you get that bracelet Octavia, it looks great."

Vinyl put her leg around Octavia, "Vinyl got it for me." She raised her leg so I could get a better look at it. Who ever made it put a lot of effort into it, each part of the design had to be hoof carved and the design took up the entirety of the bracelet. Despite not having any gems like most of the jewelry it was one of the best bracelets I've ever seen. Then I remember something, I had seen a bracelet with a similar design. It was the one Shining Armor gave my niece Cadence when… "Oh my, is this what I think it is? Are you two getting mar-" They both cut me off and moved closer to me. "Yes, we're getting married." Octavia whispered, Vinyl nodded. "Vinyl proposed last night, we haven't told anypony yet."

"That's wonderful, congratulations. I'm sure everypony will be pleased to hear this. We all knew it was only a matter of time, the two of you have been dating for almost three and a half years. If you want I'm sure my sister will be more than happy to let you have the wedding at the castle." We talked some more and they said they planned on telling everypony soon. After lunch we said our goodbye to Vinyl and Octavia. Silver went off to play with her friends, the cutie mark crusaders (now disbanded). Despite having found their cutie marks and no longer using the club name, having passed it on to other ponies who have yet to get their cutie marks, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo remained best friends. They have known Silver since she was born and are practically her aunts like their sisters but Silver considers them her best friends. Briefly I wonder if Sweetie Belle is still dating Button Mash but I push the thought aside as I teleport back to the castle. As I walked to the throne room I mentally prepared myself for the many tedious and boring duties I had to perform. I promised Tia I would help with some of her duties, her work has increased tenfold in the past few weeks. The increase should be temporary but even the two of us need time for ourselves. When I took over for my sister I told her about Vinyl and Octavia. She agreed to let them have the wedding here if they want and went to write them a letter before relaxing. Personally I'm a little worried about her, she's been acting differently lately. More than once I had caught her in bed with random stallions, one time it was with one of her guards. Two hours latter Twilight stopped by and brought Silver back. Silver was barely awake so I put her to bed and stayed with her until I had to start my own princess duties.

**Authors Note:** This won't be a multi-crossover story, only the members of Steel's team will be in the story, no aspects of their various homes will be involved in the story and they will be staying in Equestria for the entirety of the story. Also I won't start working on this again until sometime during the summer. If you have any questions or are just boare enough to look for anyone to talk to either PM me or look for me on twitter, thelordcurly.


	2. Recon and Supplies

Chapter 2: Recon and Supplies

**Edge of the Everfree forest  
****Local Time: 1200  
****One day since return**

When the light from our teleportation faded I found us standing in a familiar clearing. My home, my original home, was still in the tree but in a state of near collapse. Not surprising considering that after Luna gave me my house nopony had a reason to come here anymore. The clearing itself was more or less the same the only notable change was the boxes of equipment that came with us. "Alright find your armor, make sure there's nothing wrong with it and report back to me. Take as much time as you need." I doubted that there would be any problems. Before getting my armor on I went over to the crate with our weapons. Inside were four short swords, five crossbows, five knives, some assorted ice weapons for Coryn, and my katana. I drew the blade making sure it was still sharp. It had been crafted during my time in feudal Japan when I had to learn the way of the samurai. It had the standard shape of the katana with very little personalization. The hilt had a black and dark blue pattern while the blade had a crescent moon engraved on both sides and the inscription, _Everything I do, I do for my love_. I had toyed with the idea of naming it like in so many stories but decided against it, there was no need to name it. Putting it back I started putting on my armor, while it wasn't the most complicated suit I've ever had to put on it wasn't the simplest either. I had Spark run a diagnostic program while I walked around. Nothing seemed to feel out of place or uncomfortable and Spark reported no problems with the operating system or the armor itself. Once the others had finished their own armor checks I explained my plan for the first day. "All right, no problems to report?" No one said anything, "Coryn I want you to go over to the home of Fluttershy, it's near the edge of the forest. Talk to her animals, if we can get them to act as informants that would cut down the time we have to search for Shade. Ask them about spreading the word too, we need everything we can get. Johnson, go into town. See if you can pick up some gossip and look for a job, we'll need a supply of bits if we're going to be here for an extended amount of time. Also go to the market, make a list of supplies that you think we need. I have an emergency supply of bits hidden in my old home, I'll get it bring it to you. Anderson I found a note with my armor, go into town and look for somepony called the doctor. Apparently he's going to brief us on what's been happening lately and answer any questions we have. Spyro, I want you to fly over the forest, see if anything looks abnormal or out of place. Cynder, head to Canterlot but stay out of sight. Try to find a lead we can use. Let me know if there have been any big changes since I left." With that they began removing their armor, I remained in mine because of my stealth oriented mission. I turned on my active camo and headed to Ponyville.

I sighed as I entered the town, which had expanded since my death, I wanted nothing more than to go see my friends but since I was dead that wasn't a possibility. There were three things I noticed when I entered Ponyville. The first was the increase of guards in the town, they didn't have armor I recognized, that was the second. The third thing was the large almost crystal looking tree, like Twilight's library it was also a house. Luckily I didn't see any of my old friends, I don't know if I could stay away if I had. Using the rooftops I managed to avoid bumping into anypony. After half an hour my house was just across the street, it looked pretty good. I glided to the front door, it looked like somepony lived there but looking inside proved otherwise. The lawn was cut, the paint looked good, and nothing was broken or damaged but inside everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Applying a small amount of force to the lock and pushing broke it, opening the door. Despite the large amount of dust opening the door didn't cause a large cloud to form but I left hoof prints in the dust. I didn't bother to hide them, it's clear that nopony had been in here for a while. Heading upstairs I made my way to the master bedroom and removed the lose board from the closet floor. After I grabbed the bag I took a second to count what was inside: two hundred bits and a dozen assorted gems, just like when I put it away. On my way out I closed the door and made it look like it hadn't been touched. As I prepared to leave I noticed Anderson talking to Derpy next door. Taking to the sky I flew to the waypoint Spark had placed on Johnson's location. After giving him the bits I went back to the clearing. Seeing that the others hadn't returned yet, Cynder being an exception since she wasn't supposed to be back till nightfall, I took out my journal and made another entry.

_Equestria- Day 1_

_I'm not sure how I feel about being back here. I want to see Luna again but that would put her and all my friends in danger. Plus we're not allowed to reveal our identities to anyone we knew. Because of these feelings I feel that I will need to make more than just an entry at the end of the mission._

* * *

POV change: Johnson

After removing my armor I walked towards the town called Ponyville, strange name but after the other places I've been I didn't waste time wondering about it. I did take a small detour to grab one of my Sweet Williams from my gear and lit up on my way. I was a little put off by the looks I was getting. I defiantly removed all my armor, maybe they have something against smoking. I was also a little disturbed by how much they were smiling. Maybe it's because of everything I've seen but it didn't feel natural for a whole town to be smiling at once. I decided to head to the market first and look for a job on the way. After asking for directions a few times I found it after about an hour, personally I think it was awkward to see ponies going to different carts or stalls for food instead of a single store. Not to mention the fact that they're ponies in the first place, but I had seen Krogan and the Luminoth, not to mention the aliens from my own universe, so it wasn't too hard to ignore it and move on. Taking a look around I made a quick mental list, apples, apple juice, lettuce, tomatoes, other assorted fruits and vegetables, yes. Flowers and hay, no. I felt someone-_ somepony_ bump into me and a small pouch appear under my hoof. Checking it I found bits and gems, Steel made the drop. Feeling my stomach growl I walked over to what looked like a bakery of some kind. It looked like a giant gingerbread house so it probably specialized in cakes, pies, and similar items. Stopping just in front of the door I put out my cigar and tossed in a trash can near a bench outside. I saw that there was a help wanted sign in the window as I opened the door and smiled. I was hoping to get in, grab a snack, ask about the job, and get out. Unfortunately they were in the middle of the lunch rush, so I took one of the empty booths. It was a large semicircle booth so I wasn't surprised when two ponies asked to sit with me. One of them was orange with an old cowboy hat and the other way cyan with rainbow hair… mane, I'm not quite used to the mannerisms yet. I shit you not, she was practically a gay pride icon, now I'm not homophobic but it's pretty damn funny. "Hey, I haven't see ya 'round here before partner, ya new ta Ponyville?"

"Yep, me and my friends are just passing through. Names Avery Johnson but most just call me Johnson." She extended her hoof for a shake, "Names Applejack, me and mah family run Sweet Apple Acers on the edge of town." I looked to her campaigning. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria." It took all my training not to laugh at her name, "A pleasure." I tried not to sound sarcastic… it didn't work. We only waited another minute or so before a pink pony bounced over to us, literally she bounced. She looked at the two mares first, "Hi girls, the usual?" They nodded, "Alright, they'll be ready soon. My friends always get the best." She turned to me and gasped before running off. "Wait, what about our orders?" I could only stare with my mouth agape, "Don't worry that's Pinkie being Pinkie." Not long after a light blue pony came out from the back and picked up the pad that 'Pinkie' dropped. "Sorry about that, I'm Cupcake. Can I take your order?" I just got a regular cupcake, ironic that it's also that mare's name. I also asked about the job. I was the only pony to ask about it since they put up the sign, she said I would start out on a trial run. Starting on Monday I had a week to prove I could handle the job, if not at least I would make some bits. After eating I tried to pay for my snack but the mares sharing my booth insisted on paying for. "Consider it a welcome to Ponville gift, not to mention you let us sit with you," they said. Eventually I gave in and let them pay. Stepping back outside I traversed the market and bought some supplies. I felt like I was being followed on my way back to the clearing but after I met up with Anderson the feeling lessoned considerably. When we got back Steel and Coryn were already back and we could see Spyro flying over a nearby part of the forest, so he's probably almost done.

* * *

POV change: Anderson

This was getting ridiculous, every time I get to where somepony says the doctor is he's already gone. I think I'm a pretty patient man but this is pushing my limit. Eventually I gave up trying to find him and I switched to trying to find where he lived. I was told that he lived in an apartment on the west side of town. When I got there I didn't find the doctor I found mare named Dolphin Dream. Apparently the doctor had moved out almost four months ago, she didn't know where he was but told me somepony named Pinkie Pie would be able to tell me. Other than a description and her name I had nothing to go on and with the luck I've had today I would never find her. On the bright side I have her description with the doctor all I had was a name. I started heading back towards the center of town but as I passed a store that looked like an old careacle somepony ran into me… actually tackled is a better description. Looking up I got a face full of pink, when she back up and started to apologize I got a good look at her. Bright pink coat with a slightly darker mane and three balloons for her tattoo… what do they call them, Cutie Marks? Looks like I found Ms. Pie. "Are you Pinkie Pie?" She nodded, "Yes indeady, that's me. I work at Sugercube Corner and I'm the town's resident party thrower…" I tried to get her attention but she ignored me and kept talking. Eventually I just started walking to a different section of town, surprisingly she followed. I walked and she talked I chuckled when I realized how easy it was to tune her out... just like Udina, except I like her. "So what do you need?"

"Huh? Oh, right. I was told you could help me find somepony called the doctor." She nodded and pointed to a house on the corner. "Sure he lives there with Derpy. If he's not there she'll know where he is or when he'll get back." She suddenly gasped and ran off, all before I could thank her. Shrugging I walked up the path. I noticed a shimmer coming out of the house next door. Judging by the outline it was Steel, I guess he used to live next door. Knocking on the door I wasn't sure who to expect but I definitely didn't expect a filly whose horn only reached my chin. "I looking for the doctor or Derpy."

"My mom's not home right now but she should be here in a few minutes. Do you want to come inside?" I was honestly shocked, crime must be virtually nonexistent here. Before I could respond I heard the flapping of wings behind me. Turning I saw a grey mare with a blonde mane wearing what looked like a mailbag and matching hat. But those were second to the most noticeable thing about her, her eyes. In my universe most defects could be fixed with surgery, one of the few exceptions being Vrolik Syndrome, but she had eyes that looked in two different directions. To be honest I found it amazing that despite her disability she could still be a function member of society. I don't look down on those with disabilities but her lack of proper vision had to have been hard to adapt to. The mare walked past me, "Hi muffin, how was your day? Did Silver stop by after school?" She embraced the filly, "Fine mom, nothing really happened just another usual day at school. But I am looking forward to spending the weekend with you and Time. No the guard took her home during lunch, I think Diamond Tiara finally went too far. Oh yeah, he was looking for you." she said pointing at me. The mare extended a leg, "Hi, I'm Derpy Hooves."

"David Anderson," I said shaking the offered hoof. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about the doctor." She smiled, "Sure I can talk about Time Turner. Although he still hasn't told me how he got that nickname." I followed them inside and sat on the couch. "So what did you want to talk about?" It took me a minute to find a comfortable position, still not quite used to being a pony I guess. "Actually I wanted to know where to find him. A friend of mine asked me to talk to him." She looked at the clock, "I don't know where he is right now but he should be home in half an hour. You're welcome to wait here for him if you'd like." Wow crime must be _really_ low, "As long as I'm not a burden." She smiled and I just waited. She offered me a drink but I said no, feeling like I was already taking advantage of her kindness. I moved to a chair and waited, though the chair was actually a cushion due to pony anatomy making it impossible to sit in an actual chair. I didn't have to wait too long before the door opened again. "Derpy, I'm back!" Turning the corner was a light brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. Derpy came back in and kissed him, "Welcome home. How was your day?" He shrugged, "The usual, you'd be surprised how many clocks need repairs." They kissed again before he turned and finally noticed me. "Oh, hello. Can I help you?"

"Yes, are you the doctor?" He nodded, "Yes, I am The Doctor. What is this about?" He sat on the couch across from me, "A mutual acutance of ours told me to contact you on behalf of my group. I'm not sure if you were told to expect me." He nodded, "You're with _him_?" I nodded. "Well I'm afraid I have no time to talk to you today but I am free tomorrow morning. I'll met you at your camp at nine." With my business concluded I said goodbye and thanked Derpy for her hospitality again. About halfway back to camp I ran into Johnson and I got the feeling that we were being watched. Looking at the tree line I thought I saw three shapes, one pink, one purple, and one dark blue. But I blinked and they were gone so I wrote it off as my imagination. For the rest of our journey the feeling of being watched lessened but it was still there.

* * *

POV change: Cynder

**Cnaterlot  
****Local time: 1430**

The flight to the city was more difficult than I expected. It wasn't the distance that was a problem, it was the amount of others in the sky. It's been a long time since I was flying in a crowded sky… and it was a time I don't want to remember. But the city was my element with its numerous alleys and dark corners, not to mention my shadow powers. Plus I was only slightly taller than the average pony so once I get a cloak I can blend into the local population. If any of them somehow got a glimpse of me under the cloak there could be panic but with my shadows I should be able to shape them around myself to give me the appearance of a pony. It took me a while to find a cloak, due to the wealth of those who live in the city most of them own a dryer eliminating the need for a clothes line. I started at the market and moved towards the castle. Nothing stood out but I did pick up a few things the others should probably know, deteriorating relations with the gryphons, missing ships, and the hospitalization of one Fancypants due to food poisoning. That last one could have been Shade but he aims to kill, Fancypants wouldn't have survived if it was him. Not more than five blocks from the castle I heard the first bit of big news, there was going to be a wedding at the castle soon. I don't know when, what room it going to be in, or even whose getting married but it's a start. Using my shadow powers I got past the guards at the gate and moved about the castle grounds. The only information I got was regarding the wedding, it was in four days. Just as I was about to leave I almost crashed into Princess Luna, luckily my quick reflexes allowed me to fling myself into the bush next to the path. As she passed I heard her talking to somepony so I followed her. Once I caught up to her I saw that she was talking to an alicorn filly on her back. Personally I take pride in my ability to connect the dots faster than most so I wasn't surprised when I figured out in seconds who the filly was. What surprised me was that she existed. Steel never said anything about having a daughter but her eyes and how she and Princess Luna acted with each other… there was no doubt that the filly was his daughter. With that I decided it was time to leave. I kept the cloak on as I flew, mostly because I was having an internal argument. Do I tell Steel about his daughter? She is his daughter and he has the right to know, plus he won't be happy if he find out I knew and didn't tell him. On the other paw, telling him might cause his to go looking for her. What then, will he reveal himself to her and break one of the only rules we have? Would he risk the mission just to save her? I couldn't decide, even as the camp came into view.

* * *

POV change: Luna

**Ponyville  
****Local time: 1200**

Walking around town brought back memories that, while not unwelcome, I didn't want to relive. For instance, the street I'm walking down is the same one Steel and I took when he was walking home on the day we met. To be honest I'm not sure why these memories keep popping up, maybe it the dreams. For the past few days I've been having dreams about our family becoming whole. They were all different but the overall theme was that me and Silver would come back home and he would be there, waiting for us. Sighing again I continued to wander aimlessly through Ponyville. Silver was going to hang out with her friends after school so I didn't need to pick her up. To be honest I was hoping for some sort of distraction, if only to keep my mind focused on something else for a while. Eventually I found myself in front of a door, his door. Looking through the window I saw his house just as I left it, frozen in time, never again to be lived in. When I first found out I was pregnant I had toyed with the idea of living her with our foal but decided against it, too afraid that I wouldn't cope with the memories. Now, I think I could live here but I can't bring myself to open the door and destroy my own personal monument to his memory. I was about to leave when something caught my eye… the door. There was nothing different about this door it was just like every other, except that it was open when it should remain closed. Slowly opening it fully I felt a fire inside of me I had not felt since somepony disgraced Steel's _grave_. Somepony had broken the lock and entered his home. I took a calming breath, slowly closed the door, and teleported to Twilights 'castle' where I promptly exploded in anger. Twilight tried her best to calm me but I wasn't listening. It was bad enough that the Canterlot nobility had denied my proposal for a holiday in his honor and a young colt, who I let off with a light punishment, defiled his grave with graffiti but this, this was too much. "Animals, all of them! Do they just not care about everything he did? What he sacrificed?" By now Twilight was levitating me off the ground but I was so enraged I didn't even notice. "Luna, calm down. Tell me what happened."

"What happened? What happened, is that ponies no longer have any sense of honor or respect! Apparently ponies just don't care about each other anymore! They didn't care enough to honor or respect Steel like I wanted years ago and now somepony has broken into his house!" I could see her eye twitch at that, "Captain Wolf, I'm leaving. If anypony asks where I am tell them I am busy and not to be disturbed." He nodded from his position next to her throne. Lone Wolf was the captain of her personal guard. Many names were suggested for the new guard corp. including the Dawn Guard, mostly as a play on words considering her first name is Twilight. In the end Twilight decided on the Fade Guards, representing how day fades to night at twilight. Their armor was a pale orange pink mix to represent the last rays of light before the night and the plume on their helmets was white in the front and faded to black. It seemed only fair that she get her own guards considering I have the Lunar Guards, Tia has the Celestial Guards, and Cadence had the Crystal Guards. Steel probably would have gotten his own guards if he had been crowned a prince of Equestria… sadly that day never came. She teleported us to his house and nearly lost it like I did when she saw that what I said was true. She didn't waste any time in starting a tracking spell. Normally ponies would wave in greeting whenever we walk through town but they could feel the anger coming off us and wisely moved out of our way. Twilight led me towards the outskirts of town near the Everfree Forest, a place I have not entered since the end of the war. Unfortunately Twilight was so focused on the spell she didn't watch where she was going and crashed into one of our mutual friends. She shook her head with a smile on her face, like nothing happed. "Hi Twilight, hi Luna."

"Now is not the time Pinkie." I sighed, at least I could pretend like there was nothing wrong. She continued while Pinkie and I followed, "Aw, come on Twilight, turn that frown upside down. I think I know what will cheer you up, I'll introduce you to the two new ponies in town. One of them is a pegasus and the other's a unicorn, plus they both seem like nice Stallions." Twilight sighed and I had to stifle my laughs. "Pinkie, I'm not ready to start dating again." Pinkie just shook her head, "Twilight you and Broadsword broke up almost a year ago, you should get back out there." To be fair a better term to use is drifted apart, the two of them would probably still be together if it wasn't for their occupations. Her a princess, him a guard captain, both had very little time to themselves let alone time for a relationship. How Cadence and Shining Armor made it work I'll never know. "Later Pinkie, we're busy."

"Come on Twilight, they're just on the other side of the bushes." She parted the bushes giving us a quick glance at the two ponies before closing them again. "No Pinkie, this is important. Now, either help us or get out of the way." I frowned, "Twilight calm yourself. Confronting this pony angry will only make the situation worse. Now sit down and take some deep breaths." As Twilight calmed herself I filled Pinkie in on what happened. She was handling the situation better than Twilight but was no less angry. Pinkie was shaking, not with her usual energy but with rage. With Twilight managing her anger we set off again. Our destination was a familiar one that only added to the sadness that had been building these past few days. Sitting under what was once Steel's first home was an odd assortment of beings. There were the two ponies that Pinkie was talking about, one unicorn and one pegasus. Along with them was a barn owl, a dragon, and a figure hidden by the shadows of the setting sun. I found my attention drawn to the dragon and the mysterious figure. The dragon was unlike any I had seen before, if not for the scales and horns I wouldn't even think it was a dragon. It was purple with a gold underbelly and wings, his horns and spine were gold as well. Nothing was unusual about the colors but it was his body was a different story. All the dragons types I know stand on two legs during their foalhood and teen years and grow their wings later. He, or at least I think it's a he, was the size of Applejack's brother Big Macintosh, had fully formed wings, and walked on for legs. His form suggests he's a full adult but his size suggests otherwise, and then theirs his aura. The sight of a dragon would normally send fear into the heart of a pony because of how they carry themselves but looking at him I got a feeling of strength, determination, and safety just like I would get from one of my guards. I couldn't get a good look at the figure in the shadows but if I had to guess he was around my height maybe even a little taller. I also saw the light of the fire reflect off something he was wearing, most likely armor. I shifted my focus back to the dragon when he suddenly stood up. "What's taking her so long…?"

"Relax Spyro, Cynder will get here when she gets here." Had I not already been sitting I would have fallen over from shock, the owl just talked. Shadow passed over the three of us before I could think about it. Another dragon landed in the clearing. Its body was slimmer than the other one, clearly a female and probably who they were waiting for. "Good you're back, now we can begin." She lay down next to the other dragon. "Twilight," I whispered, "Which one of them broke into Steel's house?" She pointed, "Him, in the shadows." I moved, trying to get a better look at him but stepped on a twig. Instantly all of their heads looked in my direction and I heard a sword being unsheathed.

* * *

POV change: Steel

After a few moments I sheathed my sword and sat back down. If they were hostile they would have attacked already, it was probably just an animal. "Let's try this again. Spyro?"

"Nothing looked out of place other than the ex-ruins. Someone has completely restored the old castle. Lucky for us it looks like it was done by the princesses." I nodded, I had hoped to use the ruins as a staging area but it's not a major setback. Coryn went next, "The animals at Fluttershy's cottage have agreed to help although we do over them a few favors. They also said they would talk to some of the friendlier animals in the Everfree about helping as well." I smiled but no one noticed it behind my helmet. "Good, with the size of the Everfree and no large groups of ponies living there it's a good location for them to hide. I take it you couldn't find the doctor, Anderson." He shook his head, "No, I found him he'll be here tomorrow." Eh, I guess that's okay. I would had preferred to see him today, "What about you Johnson, anything to add?" He shook his head, "No, but I did manage to get a job interview so we might be able to get some bits soon." Turning to Cynder I saw that she was agitated, "Cynder?"

"Most of what I heard was unimportant but I did hear about an upcoming wedding. All four princesses will be in attendance, it's a chance to deliver a major blow to Equestria's leadership. He could even kill them all, especially if they don't know they're in danger."

"That won't happen, not with us here. How long do we have?" She shrugged, "Not sure but it should be either this week or next week. The doctor probably knows though."

"Excellent, if we're lucky this can all be over in a month. Here's the plan, tomorrow we meet the doctor. Depending on what he says either we'll leave for Canterlot immediately or we wait here for a while. If they do show up at the wedding we need to take the leader alive." Glancing at the clock on my HUD I decided it was late. "It's late, get some rest. We can work out the rest of the details later."

**Authors Note: **I'm back! I'm a little upset by the low amount of people who follow this story considering how many people were following Soldier of Harmony but that's life. Also I'm co-writing a story with Stumbledore called Luna's Trial, check it out on his profile.


	3. Knowledge

Chapter 3: Knowledge

**Everfree Forrest clearing  
****Local Time: 0730, Sunrise  
****Two days since return**

As usual I was the first one up, I don't sleep well anymore. Not surprising considering everything, the others would be up soon but I had some time to think. I don't think I've had a pleasant dream since I left Equestria, my dreams have are plagued by either the good people I sent to their deaths (again) or Luna and everything we never got to do. Luna could probably help me with my nightmares but I can't reveal myself to her, so I'm doomed to be plagued by these nightmares until my death. Looking back, so much of my life has been filled with death I wonder if I can ever escape. My thoughts were interrupted when Coryn returned from whatever it is he does while the rest of us sleep. I do have to commend him though, despite being a nocturnal creature he can still help us during the day. Not long after he returned the others began to wake up. I smiled when I saw where everyone had slept, I slept in the shade of the tree that was my first home here while Anderson had decided to sleep next to the river and Johnson slept in a tree. Spyro and Cynder had decided to sleep near each other but not side by side, it actually pained me to see that. Even before I knew they were real and met them personally I always thought that they would end up as a couple. But despite Cynder's confession just before they 'left' the dragon realms they were still just friends. He never heard what was supposed to be her dying confession of her love for him and she never worked up the courage to tell him again. Despite my best efforts to play matchmaker neither of them was willing to take the next step, both were also completely oblivious to the others feelings on the matter. If I could just getting them started… maybe they need to have a conversation with a certain alicorn of love. While they began to make/ hunt their individual breakfasts I noticed a stallion walking towards us. Light brown coat, dark brown mane, hourglass cutie mark, I thought the name was familiar. Derpy had talked about him once or twice, I think she had a crush on him… never did find out if she ever worked up the courage to talk to him. "I take it you're the doctor." He nodded, "Yes, everypony gather round. I would like to go over this as quickly as possible, Shade needs to be dealt with ASAP." He went on to tell us everything we thought we needed to know. In world news: Relations between Equestria and the Gryphon Empire were deteriorating, unconfirmed rumors that Saddle Arabia was experiencing a severe drought, and a vicious rumor going around that Cadence planned on leaving Shining Armor, which was most likely false given that she's the alicorn of love. In Equestria not much had changed. The ruins in the Everfree had been restored with part of it being turned into some sort of memorial, details were sketchy since the doctor had never been there. Twilight being an alicorn, which I already knew, and getting her own guard corp. Twilight having her own castle which I saw before but couldn't identify, I was disheartened to hear that the library had been destroyed. The most alarming thing pertained to Cadence. She was in a major train accident, the tracks were covered in ice and the train derailed. She survived but was in the hospital for three months. The accident also claimed the life of her only son who wasn't even four and almost ten other ponies. She was to be released from the hospital in time for the wedding but the funeral for her son had not yet been decided. Also news of the upcoming wedding had spread to every corner of the country. The biggest change though, not to say what happened to Cadence wasn't horrible and important, would have to be that the Elements of Harmony being returned to something called the Tree of Harmony.

I found it quite shocking that despite having a princess living in Ponyville the town itself had changed very little. The golden oaks library had been replaced, unfortunately it was an ordinary house instead of a tree, and a few more ponies had moved to town and needed houses but all the buildings I knew were still there. I was glad that there were plans to expand the school, I never did find out, or even think about, what would happen to the CMC when their class graduated. "That's all you need to know. There are a few other things you'll no doubt pick up but they're not important right now. Now that you're caught up on current events what's your plan?" I looked at the others, "Infiltrate the wedding, provide additional security, deal with any unexpected guest, and make sure it goes as well as possible, agreed." The all nodded, "Then you might need this," He said holding up a slip of paper. "Derpy and I haven't told anypony about our relationship so we both got invitations with a plus one ticket. Since Derpy and I both have a ticket and we only need one of the extras for Dinky you can have the spare." Now we just had to decide who would be attending the wedding. I asked and it was unanimous, I would take the ticket. Spyro and Cynder couldn't go, being dragons they would draw too much attention. Coryn also opted out, an owl wouldn't need a ticket. That left me, Johnson, and Anderson, they decided that Anderson and Johnson didn't know enough about Equestria to act like normal ponies and could give us away. I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to go given my size but the doctor assured me that ponies wouldn't be the only creatures in attendance. For example the ambassadors to the Gryphon Empire, the position was still held by Swift Wing and Light Feather which means Gilda would most likely be there as well. We also finally learned when the wedding would be, we had two days. With our business concluded the doctor headed back to Ponyvile. With nothing else to do I had the others pack supplies for our trip to Canterlot while I went into town to get a train schedule. I doubt that Spyro and Cynder will receive a warm welcome on the train so is highly likely that we'll stowaway on the roof or an empty car.

I quietly hummed to myself on the walk back from the train station, any louder and ponies would start noticing it which would defeat the purpose of using my active camo. When I neared the path I saw Pinkie bouncing down the path in the same direction. I shrugged, you can't explain Pinkie Pie, so I walked next to her. She kept looking in my direction like she knew I was there, which was a very real possibility when you consider her pinkie scene. Eventually the two of us reached the clearing. "Hi everypony!" The others jumped at her voice and were confused as to why she was here but I had a pretty good idea. "My names Pinkie Pie and I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville. I saw you two in town yesterday, usually I throw the new pony a party on the same day but the mayor said nopony had bought a house recently so I had to follow you. Then the two of you came here and I saw your friends, I thought that owl was pretty funny especially when he talked." They were a little concerned that she was following and watching them but that was to be expected with Pinkie, I was just glad I had kept my helmet on though I know Pinkie would have kept my secret. "So I had to wait until today to throw you a party, which is happening right now at Sugercube Corner. Let's go everypony, we have a party!" The others looked a little unsure, "It's fine, go to the party, I'll finish packing." Pinkie looked around for me but I was in the shadows, "Huh, wait a minute… one, two, three, four, five… where's your big friend?" Cynder glanced at me but I shook my head, "He had a really bad accident and doesn't like to show his face."

"Aw… he's not going to come to the party…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry Pinkie Pie but my face would startle everypony at your party. It would be better if I stayed here." Her mane deflated for a minute before going back to normal. "What if nopony could see your face? My friend Rarity owns a dress shop, I'm sure she can make you a hat or a face mask." In theory it could work but I would have to be careful… it could be the last time I'm ever this close to my friends. "Maybe, but I would prefer a cloak with a hood." She nodded, "Okay, I'll go tell her it should be ready soon."

"Good, bring it back here when it's done." I levitated a note over to her, "This should have all the measurements your friend needs. The rest of you go with her, you don't need to miss part of the party on my account." They shrugged and followed Pinkie to town while I finished packing. They had most of their stuff already packed with what was left lying next to their bags. Once I was done with their bags I moved on to mine.

* * *

POV change: Spyro

Following Pinkie we headed towards the center of town. I was nervous about how the ponies would treat me and Cynder but more so for her. After I saved her from the dark master most still treated her like the enemy and I know it hurt her, even if she didn't show it. When we arrived Johnson and Anderson went in first with Pinkie while Cynder and I waited until they told us it was okay to go in, Coyrn had gone off on his own. He probably won't attend the party, Barn Owls are known for their sensitive hearing after all. This was to keep the ponies in town from panicking and to keep us from being run out of town. Pinkie came back out and ushered us in. At first the ponies were wary of us but as the party progressed they trusted us enough that they weren't looking over their shoulders. I was surprised to see Princess Luna at the party, I was just glad Steel had not yet arrived. Being this close to her and not able to hold her or even tell her that he's alive would hurt him worse than any weapon ever could. The party was okay, then again I've never been to many parties. Back in the dragon realms I had birthday parties when I lived in the dragonfly village but they were never this big and I've never been to one since I left. I didn't know what to do so I spent most of my time with Cynder and the others. Eventually I found myself talking to Anderson in front of a table with a bowl of something called punch. "So how does it feel to fly without a machine?"

"It's like nothing I've ever felt before. But to be honest I'd rather be captain of a ship, that's where I belong." I nodded, "Enjoying the party?" He nodded, "One of the best I've ever been to, especially in my latter years. By then the only parties I went to were formal events filled with people whose egos were bigger than the citadel." I laughed at that, I always thought Cyril was full of himself but I only had to deal with him who knows how many people like that Anderson had to deal with. I felt somepony bump into me from behind, "Sorry mister dragon." Turning around I saw a little alicorn filly standing behind me standing on her hind legs trying to get some punch. Seeing her was a shock since there should only be four alicons. "It's okay, who are you?" Anderson nudged me for being so direct and I shot him a look, I never was good at talking to kids. She giggle at our antics, "My name's Silver Lining and one day I'm going to be a princess. Well, I am a princess right now but when I'm older my mom says that I can help with princess things." Anderson chuckled, "Don't be too ready to grow up, trust me. On day you'll wish you could be this young again." She got her punch and walked away. "Anderson did she seam…?"

"Familiar?" I nodded, "Yeah, but I know I've never met her. Maybe it's her voice or her eyes." Then it clicked, "Those deep blue eyes… you don't think?" Looking over at Anderson I could tell he was thinking the same thing. "Maybe, we don't know much about _his_ relation with the princess." We went to find Silver and answer this question. We found her with Princess Luna. "But I don't want to leave. Can't we stay at the party a few more minutes?" The princess shook her head, "No Silver we need to go." Silver hung her head in defeat, "Yes mom…"

"So…" I shrugged, "Maybe… probably best not to mention this to him though." Anderson nodded, "Some secrets need to be kept." A few minutes after Princess Luna and Silver left Steel finally arrived with Rarity. The cloak was basic black and big enough to hide most of his body leaving only his armored hooves uncovered. He mingled for a while keeping his face hidden, he was doing a surprisingly good job of disguising his voice without his helmet. After about two hours he signaled all of us and we departed for the train station. Coryn met us there and told us that he had spent the duration of the party in Canterlot looking for a place for us to stay, luckily there was an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city. The train ride itself was completely uneventful, we sat in one of the empty cars to avoid unwanted attention. As soon as we arrived we went straight to the warehouse and retired for the night.

* * *

POV change: Coryn

**Wedding Hall, Canterlot Castle**

**Local time: 0950**

**Three days since return**

The morning was pretty standard, food and recon of the immediate area since we skipped it last night. After that we went to where the wedding will be and looked at the building and surrounding area. "Alright I think we have everything we need, Coryn. Go to the guard's barracks and get a copy of their security plan. And take Johnson with you, you'll need a lookout." I nodded, it would look pretty bad for us if we just happened to set up in the same positions as the guards unannounced. It wasn't hard to get to the barracks, in fact it was significantly easier than getting into the wedding hall. Since it was right next to the gardens, which was open to the public, nopony would look twice at Johnson as he waited near the door. One of the windows was open on the top floor, it would be my way in. Hovering outside the window I used my excellent hearing to make sure the building was empty. Other than a guard on the second floor, who was fast asleep, it was empty. The window lead to an attic like space filled with junk, confiscated materials of an unhazardous and irrelevant nature, and old cases dating back at least fifty years. Getting out of the room was surprisingly easy, since ponies didn't have opposable appendages they don't have doorknobs instead they use either handles or free swinging doors without locks. Luckily being a door on the inside of a building it was the standard free swinging door allowing for easy access into the next room. The next room was just like the last except it had a staircase, why there was even a wall between the two rooms was a mystery to me. The next floor was also didn't have what we were looking for it was the guards quarters complete beds, bathrooms, and showers. The first floor looked the most promising considering the multiple desks in the first room. After searching a few desks I realized that I was looking in the wrong place, they wouldn't let just anypony get a copy of the security roster. Abandoning the desks I moved on to the offices, I decided to start with the room belonging to the highest ranking officer. I eventually found the office of a captain whose name I didn't bother to read. Just as I started my search I heard Johnson, "Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you could help me." I quickened my pace and started going through the draws before I realized it was probably buried under the other papers on the desks. "Okay take that path until you reach the edge of the gardens…" Eventually I found it and wow… the packet was over twenty pages long not including the diagrams. Grabbing it I went back upstairs and out the window. I met Johnson at the edge of the gardens and passed off the packet. We took two different paths back to the warehouse, mine was the longer of the two. As I was leaving I saw that Johnson had run into a guard who was with a filly, perhaps it was the guards daughter.

My path took me over the castle and its private garden. Normally I would have continued without deviating from my path but I was always a sucker for music even though nothing had ever matched the sound of the grass harp in the great tree. So when I heard an angelic voice humming a tune below me followed by a chorus of bird songs making a beautiful melody. Landing on a branch I watched as a yellow pegasus led a chorus of birds in song. They started with the standard here comes the bride tune then moved on to other songs. I guess they were the music for the wedding. After a few more songs I saw the same filly that Johnson had run into come into the clearing. "That was great Fluttershy!" The pegasus nodded with a smile. "Thank you Silver, I just hope we're good enough. I would hate for them not to like. It's their wedding, everything should be perfect." I couldn't help be feel a twinge of regret. The couple getting married had to have been planning this for months and it could be for nothing if Shade attacks, no one deserves to have their special day ruined. "What about the owl, is he part of your group?" Looking back to the ponies I saw I now had their attention. The yellow one flew up to me. "Wow a barn owl I didn't think any of them lived here. And look at his feather, such lovely colors." I couldn't keep myself from churring at that, it was nice to get complimented especially since recently my feathers are always covered in blood. "Do you live here mister owl?" I shook my head, without my helmet there was no way for them to understand me. "Well, where do you live then?" I pointed with a wing in the direction of the Everfree Forest. "Oh," she took a moment to think, "Do you live near Ponyville?" I nodded again. "Then you should come by cottage some time. I have other owls who stay with me and my friend Twilight has a pet owl named Owlicious, I'm sure you all could be friends. So why are you here in Canterlot?"

"I'm here to help my friends but it's not like you can understand me." She shook her head, "Actually I can understand you. Understanding and taking care of animals is my special talent." That was surprising, "So why are you here, in the gardens?" I pointed at her, "I was flying overhead when I heard your choir. I like music so I stopped to listen." She smiled and was about to say something when she gasped, "Oh my, I was so caught up in learning about you I forgot to introduce us. I'm Fluttershy and this is Silver Lining, Princess Luna's daughter." I was slightly surprised but bowed my head in recognition of her status. "What your name?"

"Coryn." She smiled, "That's a nice name. You said you like music, do you want to try singing with my chorus? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to..." I didn't have any specific time I needed to be back, I shrugged and flew up to join her birds. She lead us through some scales, to be honest I wanted to try singing but never had the time. "Wow, your voice is great?" She led us in a few songs, some of them I knew or were at least similar enough that I could keep up. "Wow, you're really good Mr. Coryn. Fluttershy can he sing at the wedding?" Fluttershy smiled, "That's up to him, owls are usually asleep during the day." Well we were going to be at the wedding anyway, I'm sure Steel won't mind. "Sure, I'll see you later I have a few thing to take care of." As I spread my wings and took off I could hear Fluttershy call behind me. "We'll be here practicing!" Flying back I saw Cynder laying on the roof. "Finally, what took so long we were starting to get worried."

"I'll tell you inside." She followed me in where the others were standing around a hoof drawn map of the wedding hall. Steel looked up when we entered, "Coryn what took so long." I told them that I met Fluttershy and that she had offered me a spot on the choir. I did leave out everything relating to Silver, I doubt Steel would want to know that Luna had met somepony else. "Okay, so you're position is covered. Spyro, Cynder, I want you two hidden in the rafters. Everypony will be looking at the altar, nopony should be looking up. Johnson, I want you to hide in this room here in the back, it should be abandoned. Anderson I want you to get a set of guard armor a blend in with them. With all of the princesses in attendance there should be a large amount of guards, I'm sure they won't notice one more but I would think of a cover story just in case. Anyone have any objections? No, good. You're all dismissed, well go over anything else later. Coryn head back to Fluttershy, the rest of you have the day to your selves spend it however you want." We all filed out, Johnson and Anderson headed into the city while Spryo and Cynder went to the roof and I went back to Fluttershy.

**Authors Note: **Steel still doesn't know about Silver and the wedding is coming up. I'm not going to spoil anything but I think you can guess what will happen. Anyway the next chapter is the wedding, so there's that plus more. Unrelated to the story, look up Twilight Sparkle's Secret Shipfic Folder. It's a fan made game that's entire purpose is to ship ponies together. They're raising money for their trip to Bronycon, by donating you can get anything from a thank you to a wallpaper, a preordered deck to a custom card. Donate at, indiegogo projects/get-tsssf-to-bronycon#home


	4. The Wedding

**Authors Note: **two things 1) going to be at Bronycon, if anyone wants to meet up PM me. 2) Looking for people who plan on getting destiny for PS4, I am in dire need of friends for that system. If not I'll end up playing the game alone… like usual.

Chapter 4: The Wedding

**Canterlot Castle  
****Local time: 1500  
****Four days since return**

The streets of Canterlot were full of ponies, more so than normal. Many of them were invited to the wedding while others were hoping to find an extra seat, despite not knowing either bride. I almost spit in disgust, sure I had met people like that before but I never thought that they would stoop so low as to crash a wedding just to improve their social status. I adjusted the hood of my cloak, the basic black was drawing some attention from ponies I passed them on the street. Approaching the wedding hall I noticed that most ponies were still waiting outside. The guards focused on me as I approached, showing them my ticket they led me inside. Apparently I had a VIP ticket reserved for close friends allowing me to get in before the other ponies. I picked a seat on the center aisle close to the front but far enough away that I shouldn't draw _that _much attention. Looking around I saw that most of my old friends were already here, the mane six were brides maids while the pony in the position of best mare/stallion was surprisingly absent. Broadsword and Silent Flight were also… well I don't know the proper term but they're the 'grooms' equivalent of a bridesmaid. I could see Vinyl already on the alter talking with Celestia, not surprising that she's considered the groom of the wedding. I could hear the clop of hooves on the marble floor. Taking a quick glance I saw that Shining Armor and Cadence had arrived, despite being released from the hospital she clearly was not yet ready to walk on her own as Shining was practically attached to her hip. It took all my training and will power not to stare at Cadence. Gone was the happy alicorn of love I remember. Her body had visible scars, the most noticeable one went over her left eye, and her right wing had lost most of its feathers. Her personality had also changed, I don't know if it was shock but I could tell by the look in her that she had little care for the world around her.

Luna had not yet arrived by the time that the rest of the attendees were let inside. As the remaining seats were filled I could pick out a few familiar faces from the crowd. Swift Wing and his family, Lyra Hearstings… the list goes on, many I had only seen in passing but some of them I had . This was also the point where the other took up their position. Coryn entered with the rest of the bird choir, Spryo and Cynder took up positions in the rafters, and Anderson was positioned near the doors. With the armor being enchanted the only reason I could tell it was Anderson was that some of the plates weren't as polished as they should be. With the others in position, barring Johnson who I couldn't see, all there was left was to wait and pray. I pulled up the visual feeds from the others helmet cams giving me a view of most of the room, I didn't pull up Johnson's feed since he couldn't see anything anyway. Surprisingly the wedding was due to start any minute and I had yet to see Luna… was she not coming? "Excuse us sir." Turning slightly I saw Luna standing next to me. I stood up and moved out into the aisle. Luna passed followed by something, or should I say somepony, I never expected. This little alicorn filly with a light grey coat and cobalt mane that had a silver streak in it who could be no older than six. The sight of that filly felt like a knife in my heart, I never expected Luna to stay single the rest of her extremely long possibly unending life but I never expected to see her move on and make a family of her own. Luna sat to the right putting the filly in-between the two of us which did not help my feelings of pain and loneliness. Luckily I was able to turn my attention to the wedding. I was on high alert for the beginning of the wedding but since the only thing that was out of place was a draft that made the banner across from me slightly shift every now and then. As the wedding progressed I allowed myself to relax. When we reached the vows I allowed myself to completely relax, 'looks like we were wrong. I guess there never was any danger.' The banner shifted again but I paid no mind to it until it moved way too soon for it to have been the draft. Watching it I saw it move again… in the wrong direction.

"Heads up, possible hostiles. Everyone switch visors to infrared." I watched as the feds lit up like fireworks and the others gasped. "Hostiles confirmed. Can anyone tell how many there are?" The others looked around but it was just a sea of orange. "No, there are too many. At least a hundred maybe more plus possible reinforcements." I had not anticipated so many, I expected a small strike team unless Shade knows we're here… "Wait for my mark to engage." Switching on my own thermal I saw one of the cloaked assassins readying a crossbow and aiming at Celestia. "Spark calculate when he'll fire and tell me when to jump in front of the bolt. "Calculating… Done. Jump now!" Just as I made my move I hard Celestia say, "If anypony has a reason these two should not be wed please speak up now. I jumped into the aisle but the bolt had more of a punch than I expected and sent me tumbling to the floor near the alter with it visibly sticking out of my shoulder. Luckily it was stopped by my armor. Many started to panic as a familiar dark chuckle filled the room. "A valiant effort my foolish friends but in the end completely useless." Everypony gasped, I would have to if I wasn't playing dead, as Shadow Steel materialized next to my 'body'. He was holding an empty crossbow and had his swords strapped to his sides. "It's so nice to see everypony again. Did you miss me Luna? Cause I know I missed your sister, something I'm about to fix." While he was talking he loaded another bolt into his crossbow and that sentence made his intention clear for everypony. Luna growled, "Not if I have anything to say about it." No seriously I think she growled. "Guards seize him!"

"Keep them back, the princesses are mine." His forces materialized around him and some of them flew in, shattering the windows. All of them were shadow ponies, unicorns and pegusi to be precise, and they outnumbered the guards four to one. He laughed and fired another bolt at Celestia who was still in shock. And he would have killed her if I hadn't cut the arrow in half with my sword. He stopped laughing and everypony turned to look at me as I stood and pulled out the bolt. "Shadow this is a surprise, I thought you were dead. No matter I'll just have to put you back in the ground." He growled and looked at a group of shadow ponies to his left. "Kill him and make sure he suffers… on second thought, keep him alive until I kill the princesses." Shadow proceeded to draw his sword and walk towards the four princesses who had gathered at the alter while I was surrounded. Holding my sword with my wings I readied the flamethrower spell. Lighting the floor in front of me on fire in a crescent moon shape I quickly spun around and blocked a sword that would have removed my horn. Three bolts landed in my side, also stopped by my armor, and I had Spark mark the three crossbow ponies. Blocking another sword I dodged an axe that went into a shadow pony behind me. I sliced the neck of the axe wielding pony before rolling to the side dodging another volley of bolts and two swords. Jumping in the air I dodged a spear aimed at my flank and charged my horn before landing and launched a dozen ground spikes in a circle around me squiring multiple assailants. Taking to the air I quickly killed the three crossbow ponies who had no means of defense other than the crossbows. Turning to the back of the room I saw how the guards inside had been over whelmed and killed or pushed back to the door where the shadow ponies had created a bottleneck keeping any reinforcements from entering. "Johnson, Spyro. I think it's time you two enter the fight. Anderson, get the guards organized. Cynder stay back, if Shadow tries to escape you're to keep him here." Lunching back into the fray I manage to cut down three more shadow ponies before they can react. As I locked blades with a shadow unicorn fire rains down from the ceiling just before Spyro jumps down to join in the fray. Meanwhile I can see Johnson bursting out of the side room cutting down multiple shadow ponies before they could react. Combined with the newly organized guards under Anderson the shadow ponies were being overwhelmed. Dispatching the unicorn I turned back to the princesses. I saw the guards with them dead except for what appears to be the captain of the Fade who is holding off a dozen shadow ponies while Luna fought Shadow. Luna was covered in multiple cuts and looked tired while Shadow had the same confident look he had when I first met him. Slowly creeping up behind him I saw him disarm Luna right before I shoved my sword between his shoulders. I followed up that by throwing him over my shoulder.

* * *

POV change: Luna

I was still unnerved knowing Shadow was still alive considering how much was lost just to kill him, Steel included. Him and a group of no less than four dozen shadow ponies walked towards us. Our guards formed a wall in front of us with Captain Wolf of the Fade in the center. I couldn't see Shining Armor but I hoped him and Silver were alright as the rest of Shadows forces pushed the rest of the guards towards the doors. The battle was short but deadly with most of the guards dead and the reaming few off to the side with Captain Wolf while Shadow walked towards us. Shadow had drawn his two swards and placed his crossbow on his back. Looking around I saw a sword near me and I levitated it in front of myself, readying myself for battle. "What's this, do you plan on fighting me alone Luna?"

"Sister, keep Cadence and Twilight safe. I'll deal with him." I could see that my sister wasn't comfortable with my decision but I know she wouldn't stop me knowing my history with him. Shadow chuckled and lazily swung a sword at me. I parried it and tried to cut off his head. He jumped back in surprise and I managed to cut him bellow his left eye. Putting a hoof to the cut he saw it with blood as he pulled it away. He snarled, "So, you've been learning how to fight huh?" I came at him again with two slashes then a parry, "I would call it relearning. I was one of the greatest sword masters just before my exile." Shadow smirked, "Well then let's see how much you remember." He came at me slow at first and I was able to dodge or deflect all his blows. Then I went after him I got close a few times but my blade never touched him. Knocking my baled aside he came at me faster than even faster. I tried to keep up but I was more out of practice than I thought. None of his hits left more than a scratch, he was toying with me. After a few minutes it looked like he finally got bored. He yawned, "I thinks it's time I ended this don't you?" He caught my blade with both of his and pulled sending it clattering to the ground near the wall to the right. He smirked for all of three seconds before a sword was plunged between his shoulders and he was tossed away from us. The pony who had save Tia from Shadow's first two bolts stood in front of us. "Are all of you alight?" I looked at the others Tia and Twilight nodded but Cadence still looked indifferent. "We're fine, thank you." Suddenly he was knocked to the ground and was pinned with Shadow looming over him. "All that planning ruined. I might not be able to kill the princesses but I will kill you." He tried to punch the pony but the pony through Shadow of him. But not before Shadow was able to grab his cloak and take it with him which gave us our first look at our savior. Or it would have had he not been covered head to hoof in armor, at least we were able to figure out he was a stallion based on his body structure… and an alicorn. Which was surprising since there was no known living male alicorns. The stallion readied his sword and slowly walked towards Shadow. "You won't kill me."

"Do really believe that? Huh, you're more of a fool then I expected." Shadow scrambled to his hooves and pulled out his crossbow forcing the stallion to stop walking. Looking around I saw Shadow start to get nervous the dragon from Ponyville had helped the guards break through the shadow ponies and were finishing them off. Wolf had dealt with the shadow ponies on our side and was moving in on Shadows left. He smirked, "Even if I die I'm taking one of the royal family with me." He pointed the crossbow to his right and fired while simultaneously taking to the air. It took me a moment to find his target, "Silver!"

* * *

POV change: Steel

I was confused at first as to who Shadows target was considering all the members of the royal family here were behind me. "Silver!" Snapping my head to the left I noticed the filly, whom I completely forgot about, partially standing behind a pillar. Timed seamed to slow as I tried to run in front of the bolt to save the filly but I just wasn't fast enough. Luckily I wasn't the only one who's attention was brought to the filly by Luna's shout. Meer seconds before the bolt hit the filly a wall of stone with a green glow rose to block it. Nodding my head in thanks to Spyro's quick reaction I turned around just in time to see Shadow hit the floor weigh down by an invisible force. "What is this?" As Cynder snapped into existence she held her tail blade to his throat. "Stop struggling or I'll kill you… slowly." She drove her point him by giving him a shallow cut. Dragging Shadow to a corner I decided to do a quick interrogation. "Where's Shade." He just spat in my face… so I cut off his horn. "How about now, feel like talking?" No response so the next thing to go was his right wing followed by his left. "Fine I guess you're not ready to talk." I turned to the princesses, ""He's all yours" Turning to face him again I got a dagger to the throat. I stabbed my blade into his throat in retaliation. Luckily I wasn't hurt but my voice modifier was slightly damaged. "This time stay dead." My voice came out normal and unmodified causing Shadow's eyes to widen in his last few moments of life. Sheathing my sword I walked over to the princesses, the elements of harmony, Vinyl, and Octavia. I saw the filly now known as Silver thanking Spyro for saving her and followed him as he walked over as well. "It's good to see that none of you are hurt. Sorry about the wedding." Vinyl just waved it off. "We should get out of here in case any of them are still hanging around." The others nodded and we walked to the castle proper. As soon as we were in the throne room Pinkie was in my face talking faster than I could understand. Luckily Spark could keep up with her and gave me the short version, she wanted to have a party to thank us for saving them. The party was similar to practically every other Pinkie Pie party I'd been to before except a lot more ponies showed up, even some upper class ponies like Fancypants and Flur DE Lee. I noticed how during the party Silver kept close to me but never approached. It wasn't till much later when Luna was with her did she come talk to me. I wasn't sure if she was scared of me or if she was just shy. "Hi mister, I just wanted to thank you for helping save me and my mom." Luna nodded her thanks, "I'm Silver Lining, what's your name."

"You can call me Flame or Sir." She looked confused, "That can't be your real name you don't look like a Flame. Can you tell me your real name?" I shook my head, "I only tell my friends my real name. I wouldn't call us friends yet but maybe one day." She smiled, "Really? Awesome! If we're going to be friends you should probably know more about me. I'm five almost six, Princess Luna is my mom, and I'm friends with the Elements of Harmony and the rest of the princesses." She bounce around me as she spoke. I decided to ask a question I had been thinking about but at the same time didn't want to know. "If Princess Luna is your mother who's your father?" She stopped bouncing and looked down, "I'm sorry you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay. I never knew my father but my mom tells me stories every now and then. She says he was a great stallion, so does everypony else." I nodded, "So what was his name…?" Silver sighed, "Flamingsteel, he was an alicorn like us. He died in the final battle of the Shadow War." I gasped at that, luckily Spark turned off my audio keeping it confined to my helmet. _'Steel don't. You might not be around once this is all over. Don't tell her who you really are.'_ I never got the chance to say anything to Silver because Coryn landed on my shoulder and told me that he had heard from Philomena, Celestia's phoenix, that there had been unusual activity reported in the Everfree Forest. After saying goodbye to everypony the five of us headed back to Ponyville on the next train.

**Authors Note: **I'm surprised and a little hurt that since Soldier of Harmony was finished the average amount of views per day has risen to somewhere around 45-50. It was never that good when it was still being written, what the hell people?


	5. Note

Hello everypony quick story update, last month my hard drive fried so I needed to replace it. Good news, my computer works fine now, bad news, I lost most of my work. I'm hoping to be able to recover some of my work from the drive but for now I'm on a break. Even if I can't recover anything I will continue this story but first I'm going to go over the other chapters and do some edits. So I'm still around, this story will be continued, and I'm on a break. Enjoy thanksgiving.

Lord Curly


	6. Note 2

**Authors Note: **Hey everyone merry Christmas. I'm still working on rewriting this story and I haven't had a chance to get my old hard drive looked at. So yeah… anyway figured I'd give you guys something for Christmas. To be honest the only reason I have this done is because I found a song I liked better than what I originally had for this scene so I had to rewrite it anyway. This scene is going to take place in chapter 6, but it could be earlier or it could be later. Regardless, enjoy it and have a happy holiday. **Note:** this is only a draft and can change between now and whenever it is put in the story.

**POV: Luna**

Walking through the hallway I was lost in thought thinking of how the castle has changed. I hadn't have a chance to visit since its reconstruction because of my duties as well as raising Silver. I was glad my sister put Twilight in charge of the castles renovation, she did a wonderful job. Despite looking brand new she kept the original layout and did her best to keep the style of the original castle. I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard a tune coming from the hallway to my left. Following the music I ended up standing in front of the ball room. Pushing the door open I saw Specter (I've decide to change Steel's cover name).

_I saw the light fade from the sky_

_On the wind I heard a sigh_

_As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers_

_I will say this last goodbye_

_Night is now falling_

_So ends this day_

_The road is now calling_

_And I must away_

I was surprised when a ghostly figure appeared in front of him. Its body was a pale blue color so there was no way of knowing exactly who it was but just looking at the figure I could tell it was an alicorn mare.

_Over hill and under tree_

_Through lands where never light has shone_

_By silver streams that run down to the sea_

_Under cloud, beneath the stars_

_Over snow and winter's morn_

_I turn at last to paths that lead home_

Specter and the figure began to dance in a slow waltz… It almost brought a tear to my eye. While I couldn't be entirely sure without asking I fear that he suffered the same way I have, that this mare is no longer among the living. The continued to dance as Specter continued to sing.

_And, oh, where the road then takes me,_

_I cannot tell_

_We came all this way_

_But now comes the day_

_To bid you farewell_

_Many places I have been_

_Many sorrows I have seen_

_But don't regret_

_Nor will I forget_

_All who took that road with me_

_Night is now falling_

_So ends this day_

_The road is now calling_

_And I must away_

_Over hill, and under tree_

_Through lands where never light has shone_

_By silver streams that run down to the sea_

_To these memories I will hold_

_With your blessing I will go_

_To turn at last to paths that lead home_

_And, oh, where the road then takes me,_

_I cannot tell_

_We came all this way_

_But now comes the day_

_To bid you farewell_

_I bid you all a very fond farewell_

When the song ended, Specter bowed to the mare before she backed up and a foal appeared next to her. She placed the foal on her back and walked away, fading as she went. I heard a sigh of grief and regret come from him before he turned towards the door. He jumped a little when he saw me standing in the doorway. "Princess, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough…" He nodded and moved to walk past me, "Who was she?" He sighed, "She's the love of my life, and I fear I will never get to see her again." I started to follow him, "Then why do you not return to her?"

"Because my duty keeps me away. My duty is my fate and my fate is why I had to leave her. Perhaps one day I will see her again but it will not be for a long, long time." We stopped outside his room, "If you'll excuse me princess I would like to retire for the night."


	7. Final note

Hi everyone. I know it's been a long time since my last update a year yesterday actually. I have some good new and some bad news. The bad news this version of my **story is** **canceled**. The good news is that **I have posted a new version of the story**. It is under the name Following Darkness MK II, this is only temporary as once I have posted chapter seven of the new version I will be deleting this version and changing the name back to Following Darkness. Many of you might be wondering why I made a new story instead of just replacing the chapters on this one, frankly it's just too much damn work for me so this is how I'm doing it. Also it's a good way to find out if people have lost interest tint the story. Now there are changes to the story but I'm going to tell you the big one here. The character Coyrn form the Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series has been cut. I like him and those are some of my favorite books but I just had too much trouble writing him in it just wasn't worth it. The scenes where the rest of the squad meets Silver before Steel have been cut. I want it to be more of a surprise to first time readers. Every other change is minor and I hope you enjoy the new version of Following Darkness. If you have decided to end the journey here then have a merry Christmas and just go already

Lord Curly

RIP Following Darkness MK I 4/29/14 - 12/25/15


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